Tag: Peter and John

• 1 Peter 3:8-22: Salvific Suffering – Part II

  
  

  1 Peter 3:8-22: Salvific Suffering – Part II

  Thursday, May 9, 2024

  

  How can we celebrate our mourning?

  When we spend time opening Acts 5, and when we watch and listen to Peter, we discover how we might apply The Word to our lives.

  We watch the apostles slip unseen from their prison, moving through locked gates and past watchful guards.

  Do we ask Christ to open doors and safeguard us? Do we trust the Spirit who calls us?

  The apostles go immediately to the Temple to proclaim the wonderful news that they were able to heal in Jesus’ name, the name of the man whom they taunted a few short weeks before as he hung on the cross.

  Do we share with others the Good News of Christ’s movement in our lives? Do we celebrate our small victories and rejoice in the Spirit’s healing?

  We follow the apostles as they brilliantly and boldly – and in every way like Christ – reply to the Sadducees that they cannot still their tongues or cease healing.  We hear them defy this wealthy group of men who collaborate with the Romans and supervise the rebuilding of the stone Temple.

  Do we react with courage when others accuse us unjustly? Do we trust the Spirit to send us her wisdom and grace?

  We hear the apostles as they witness to Christ when they say – as we all are called to say: Whether it is right in the sight of God, you be the judges.  It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard. 

  Do we speak as these apostles speak? Do we listen as these apostles listen? Do we act as these apostles act?

  Today we spend time with The Word as we learn how to celebrate our mourning.

  Tomorrow, what do we fear . . . and why?

  ---

  Image from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_of_Saint_Peter

  Adapted from a Favorite written in November 10, 2007.

   

  Share this:

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • More

  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Pocket
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr

  Like Loading…

  May 9, 2024

  Acts 5, healing, Peter and John, The Sadducees, witnessing

  ---

• Acts 4:5-12: Filled With the Holy Spirit

  
  

  Acts 4:5-12: Filled With the Holy Spirit

  Thursday, May 2, 2024

  

  Peter and John heal a crippled beggar (Acts 3) and when the crowd erupts with wonder, they explain that the miracle takes place only through them, and not because of them. It is the Messiah, crucified earlier, who brings about this marvelous cure. (See yesterday’s Noontime.) The commotion brings attention from the authorities who arrest the pair. Peter and John find themselves in prison, and finally they stand before the Sanhedrin. The authorities ask, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 

  Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, let it be known that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. 

  There is no doubt that these words shock his listeners, but Peter further explains, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.”

  If we read more of this story, we find that this series of events brings more followers to this small community. If we reflect on this story, we discover the marvel of God’s love and the power of Christ’s authority. If we pray with this story, we discover that we too, are filled with the healing presence of the Holy Spirit. What miracles might we bring to others when we allow ourselves to be conduits of God’s love?

  Tomorrow, Peter’s fourth sermon following Pentecost.

  ---

  When we use the scripture link and drop-down menus to explore this sermon, we allow ourselves to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  

  Image from: https://onegodworship.com/peters-christology-before-the-sanhedrin/

  Share this:

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • More

  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Pocket
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr

  Like Loading…

  May 2, 2024

  miracles, Peter and John, Sanhedrin

  ---

• Mark 12:18-27: Resurrection – Part III: Working

  
  

  

  Sunday, October 17, 2021

  Mark 12:18-27

  Resurrection – Part III: Working

  Are you not mislead because you do not know the scriptures?

  In Acts 23 we see St. Paul pit Sadducees against Pharisees. He does this so well and he causes such uproar that the Roman commander “spirits” Paul away to hide him in the barracks out of reach from these dueling voices.  Earlier in Acts (Chapters 4 and 5) we read that the Sadducees go to their Roman overlords to silence Peter and John who are drawing large crowds by telling the good news of redemption through deeds and a personal relationship with Christ, and through their healing of people in Jesus’ name.  These two apostles who heal souls and bodies through the living presence of the resurrected Christ cause more turmoil than the Sadducees are willing to allow. Paul, Peter and John bring good news for all of us, and bad news for those who wish to control God’s abundance and love.

  God says: When you see corrupt structures that appear to be immune from my justice, do not fret. When you encounter vertical hierarchies that obscure my message of life and love, do not worry. When you come up against closed minds and stiff necks, do not lose heart. I am always amid the storm. I am in the fire of the burning bush. I am in the pain of the thorns and cross. I am also in your heart and mind. Allow me to shoulder your burden. Give to me the anxiety that drains you and the fear that paralyzes you. I am the calm in the storm. I am the water in the desert. I am the shoulders that carry the world. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will carry you through all that threatens to extinguish life and light and love. When you are too weary to work in me . . . allow me to work in you. 

  When we are too exhausted to think beyond ourselves we know that it is time to hand our troubles over to the one who sees and knows and understands all. When we find our work burdensome and too heavy to bear we know that it is the day to rely on the one who knows and sees and comprehends all.  When we find the vineyard too difficult a place to live and thrive we know that it is the moment to give all of our watching, all of our waiting, and all of our working to God.

  ---

  Adapted from a reflection written on November 22, 2008.

  To explore Tissot’s depictions of the Passion of Christ series, visit: http://www.joyfulheart.com/easter/tissot-passion.htm  

  Image from: https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/13462

  Share this:

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • More

  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Pocket
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr

  Like Loading…

  October 17, 2021

  Acts 23, Acts 4 & 5, healing, Peter and John, St. Paul

  ---

• Psalm 96: God of the Universe

  
  

  Psalm 96: God of the Universe

  Easter Thursday, April 25, 2019

  A re-post from Easter Week 2012.

  From commentary: “A hymn inviting all humanity to praise the glories of Israel’s God (1-3), who is the sole God (4-6).  To the just ruler of all belongs worship (7-10), even inanimate creation is to offer praise (11-13).  This psalm has numerous verbal and thematic contacts with Isaiah 44-55, as does Psalm 98.  Another version of the Psalm is 1 Chronicles 16, 23-33”. (Senior 712)

  During the Easter Octave the entire universe confirms that God is great, God is good.  On this third day of Easter we will want to join our voice with all other voices in creation.   The Psalms give us a special way to praise God and from the earliest days of the Church this pattern of public, daily prayer was established. We read the Book of Acts frequently during Eastertide as it tells us of the passion and awe the disciples felt as they began to understand the inversions in the resurrection story and the implications it had for God’s entire creation.  In these verses we frequently hear that the disciples, inculcated in Jewish life, moved in a cycle of prayer.  For example, we read: Now Peter and John were going up to the temple area for the three o’clock prayer. (Acts 3:1) 

  The Psalms played an important part in these prayers and centuries later the Christian Liturgy of the Hours continues to call both clergy and lay with these old patterns.  Today, as we move through the Easter Octave celebrating the miracle of Easter, let us investigate these Psalms from a long-ago time that still have very modern application.  These hymns of sorrow, praise, thanksgiving and petition are formed by ancient people but embody modern hope.  They are songs of acclaim and appeal, great sadness and un-bounding joy.  They are sacred poems traveling through time that together tell the marvelous story of our deliverance at God’s hand, and the limitless love that this God of the Universe has for us.

  ---

  You may want to take some time today to read more about The Psalms on this blog at: www.thenoontimes.com/the-book-of-our-life/psalms-the-praises/, or Acts at:

  Image from: http://tourinord.com/

  Senior, Donald, ed. THE CATHOLIC STUDY BIBLE. New York, Oxford University Press, 1990.712. Print.   

  For a wonderfully accessible explanation of the Liturgy of the Hours and for a version that has universal appeal, look for the series by Tickle, Phyllis published by Doubleday. 

  Share this:

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print
  • More

  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Pocket
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr

  Like Loading…

  April 25, 2019

  1 Chronicles 16: 23-33, ACts, Jewish prayer, Liturgy of the Hours, Peter and John, Psalm 98

  ---